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Performance Testing and Application of Ferroelectric/Piezoelectric Ceramics

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced and Functional Ceramics and Glasses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 1352

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: piezoelectric materials; ferroelectric materials; dielectric materials; multilayered ceramic capacitors; low-temperature cofired ceramics; giant-permittivity materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials have attracted increased interest due to their potential application in the electronic industry. In particular, solid-state devices utilizing piezoelectric effects have garnered significant attention both scientifically and technologically; this is because piezoelectric devices such as actuators, sensors and transducers have been extensively employed in electromechanical applications such as oscillators, vibration damping, ultrasonic motors, ultrasonic biomedical imaging, MEMS loud speakers, accelerometers, resonators and micro/nano positioning. In addition, many new devices and applications have been explored intensively, and many novel technological developments, such as material fabrication, device design, and the performance evaluation of devices, are emerging. These technologies offer outstanding ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties, which makes them particularly useful in the field of electronic devices. This Special Issue aims to gather recent research on ferroelectric/piezoelectric materials and devices in the aforementioned areas.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Advanced ferroelectric/piezoelectric materials, including crystals, ceramics, polymers, and composites, etc.
  • Ferroelectric/piezoelectric devices and their applications.
  • Ferro/piezoelectric characterization methods.
  • Characterization and modeling of ferro/piezoelectric materials and devices.

Dr. Zhonghua Yao
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • piezoelectricity
  • ferroelectricity
  • domain engineering
  • morphotropic phase boundary
  • energy harvesting
  • ceramics
  • composites
  • polymers
  • crystals

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5396 KiB  
Article
Reducing Sintering Temperature While Optimizing Electrical Properties of BCZT-Based Lead-Free Ceramics by Adding MnO2 as Sintering Aid
by Xinlin Yang, Bijun Fang, Shuai Zhang, Xiaolong Lu and Jianning Ding
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1888; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081888 - 21 Apr 2025
Viewed by 205
Abstract
In order to reduce the sintering temperature, MnO2 was used as a sintering aid to prepare [(Ba0.85Ca0.15)0.999(Dy0.5Tb0.5)0.001](Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3-x mol% MnO2 (BCDTZT-x mol% MnO2 [...] Read more.
In order to reduce the sintering temperature, MnO2 was used as a sintering aid to prepare [(Ba0.85Ca0.15)0.999(Dy0.5Tb0.5)0.001](Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3-x mol% MnO2 (BCDTZT-x mol% MnO2, x = 0.05, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 1.5, 3) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics in which the effects of the MnO2 doping amount and sintering temperature on the phase structure, sintering behavior, and electrical properties of the BCDTZT-x mol% MnO2 ceramics were systematically analyzed. All ceramics have a single perovskite structure and coexist in multiple phases. The optimal sintering temperature was reduced from 1515 °C to 1425 °C, and the density of all ceramics was increased as compared with the undoped ceramic, reaching a maximum of 5.38 g/cm3 at x = 0.8 mol%. An appropriate MnO2 doping amount of 0.4 mol% could effectively suppress oxygen vacancies and improve electrical properties, resulting in the best comprehensive performance of the ceramics, with a dielectric constant maximum of 12,817, a high piezoelectric constant of 330 pC/N, and good strain value (Smax = 0.118%) and low strain hysteresis (Hys = 2.66%). The calculation of activation energy indicated that the high-temperature conductivity was dominated by oxygen vacancies in all ceramics. The results showed that the appropriate introduction of MnO2 as a sintering aid could improve the performance of BCZT-based ceramics while reducing the sintering temperature, presenting high practical application value in the fields of low electric field sensors and actuators. Full article
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14 pages, 6304 KiB  
Article
Insight into the Structure Evolution and Performance Optimization of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-Based Ceramics for Energy Storage Application
by Qian Wang, Lin Zhang, Rui Li, Hui Yang, Chuanhui Wang, Zhao Xiong and Chunwu Liu
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081801 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 194
Abstract
The excellent temperature stability and high saturation polarization of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (BNT) make it a promising candidate for energy storage capacitors. However, its disadvantages, such as low breakdown strength, high remnant polarization, and a complex sintering process, limit its [...] Read more.
The excellent temperature stability and high saturation polarization of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (BNT) make it a promising candidate for energy storage capacitors. However, its disadvantages, such as low breakdown strength, high remnant polarization, and a complex sintering process, limit its further development. To address this, (1 − x) Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3−x Sr(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 ceramics were fabricated, where ion doping was employed to modify the domain structure, reduce the grain size, and improve the energy storage performance. With the increase in dopant concentration, the evolution from long-range-ordered ferroelectric micro-domains into short-range-ordered randomly oriented polar nanoregions (PNRs) was revealed, as demonstrated by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. This resulted in a diffuse phase transition peak and a significant reduction in remnant polarization. However, the saturation polarization also decreased. Finally, the optimal energy storage performance was achieved at a medium dopant concentration (x = 0.10), accompanied by reduced grain size and a dense microstructure. This composition exhibited a discharged energy density of 1.64 J/cm3 at a low electric field of 150 kV/cm, representing a notable improvement over pure BNT, which showed a highly lossy P-E loop and a discharged energy density of only 0.14 J/cm3 at the same electric field. Full article
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11 pages, 3054 KiB  
Article
Ultralow Temperature Sintering of High-Performance Sm-Doped Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Based Piezoelectric Ceramics
by Zechi Ma, Zixuan Yuan, Zhonghua Yao, Jiangxue Chen, Hua Hao, Minghe Cao and Hanxing Liu
Materials 2025, 18(3), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18030512 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 661
Abstract
Piezoelectric materials (PZTs) enjoy extensive applications in the field of electromechanical sensors due to their sensitive response to external electric fields. The limited piezoelectric response for single-layer piezoceramic pellets drives the use of multilayered technology to increase the electric displacement of a single [...] Read more.
Piezoelectric materials (PZTs) enjoy extensive applications in the field of electromechanical sensors due to their sensitive response to external electric fields. The limited piezoelectric response for single-layer piezoceramic pellets drives the use of multilayered technology to increase the electric displacement of a single piezo device. As is well known, Ag is commonly used as a metal for electrodes in devices based on traditional PZTs, which always densify at a high temperature above 1100 °C, resulting in Ag migration. Here, a high-performance samarium-ion-doped Sm0.01Pb0.99(Zr0.54Ti0.46)O3 ceramic was selected as parent materials to develop a new Ag-cofired ceramic matrix with a sintering temperature of 920 °C by glass flux. The ceramic composition with 2.0 wt% glass addition exhibits the excellent performance of piezoelectric d33~492 pC/N, planar electromechanical coupling coefficient kp~50.1%, mechanical quality factor Qm~68.71, and Curie temperature Tc~356 °C, respectively. The cyclic stability of d33 was measured below 6.6% at 30 kV/cm, which indicates that the piezoceramic has good temperature stability and fatigue resistance. Therefore, this study provides a novel high-performance piezoelectric system to meet the cofired requirement for multilayered piezoelectric devices. Full article
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